Helping wh¯anau seek treatment without fear
... our doctors and nurses need the time and resources to diagnose and treat serious illnesses early, so we can save lives.
After 20 years of trying to make a broken system work, the Government has scrapped the country’s
20 district health boards, bringing in the Ma¯ ori Health Authority and Health NZ.
It’s part of a major shake-up to the health system, with the aim of improving health and wellbeing outcomes for all.
While my title says chief executive, I’m a social worker at heart who grew up putting others first. My goal has always been to improve Ma¯ ori health and wellbeing outcomes, so this major improvement to the health and disability sector resonates with me.
Wha¯ nau rangatiratanga and community values have always been part of who I am.
My mother was embedded within Tamariki Ora (child immunisation) and the Ma¯ ori Women’s Welfare League, who are champions of Ma¯ ori health.
With the creation of the Ma¯ ori Health Authority and Iwi-Ma¯ ori Partnership Boards, iwi katoa are finally empowered to assert our rangatiratanga to improve the health and wellbeing of wha¯ nau Ma¯ ori throughout Aotearoa.
This is a fabulous once in a lifetime opportunity to directly influence structural changes to the health system, as well as driving improvements to address equity at the flax roots and providing much-needed support to wha¯ nau in need.
This was missing during the recent
Covid rollout, where Ma¯ ori health leaders were left to continuously challenge the health system to address these inequities.
We have named our Nga¯ i Tahu board Te Tauraki, which speaks to the Crown’s broken promise to provide Nga¯ i Tahu wha¯ nau with schools and hospitals as part payment for our whenua (land) in the mid-1800s.
That breach of good faith saw subsequent generations forming deep distrust in our health system, which has never fully faded.
It’s our hope that Te Tauraki will
finally give effect to the promises agreed between our tı¯puna (ancestors) and the Crown – ‘‘Kia maiea te kupu tauraki’’ – To fulfil the promise.
The old system was demoralising and broken, with overworked GPs often booked out and ma¯ uiui (sick) wha¯ nau turned away.
It failed our Ma¯ ori and Pasifika communities, who now face a shortened life expectancy and other concerning health problems like a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
For this new approach to be truly successful, our doctors and nurses need the time and resources to diagnose and treat serious illnesses early, so we can save lives.
Let’s infuse te ao Ma¯ ori into this new way of working and ensure wha¯ nau have easy access to the right services at the right time.
Our wha¯ nau face a range of barriers stopping them seeking medical treatment, including distrust in the previous health system, which was never designed to meet their needs.
I know some wha¯ nau have believed it was their fault they became seriously ill, but it was the system that failed them.
One of our wha¯ nau members in her 70s knows these challenges all too well. Isolating alone at her rural home during a Covid-19 lockdown, she felt unwell. Feeling like a burden, she sat in a waiting room at her nearest hospital for four hours, only to be told she would need to return and repeat the process in a few days once her test results were in – a scary prospect. Sent home to her whare, she continued to worry about her health.
After three follow-up visits she was told her meds needed to be changed. Her experience was cold and clinical with no manaakitanga.
Our consistently underfunded kaupapa Ma¯ ori health providers have taken a different approach from the status quo, putting wha¯ nau and manaakitanga at the centre of everything they do.
That involves building long-term trusted relationships and wrapping services around wha¯ nau in an environment where they can relax without fear of judgment.
All New Zealanders deserve this treatment, and these health reforms are our chance to seize that.
Success will see our rangatahi grow up with the desire to become the next generation of specialists within the very same health system which their kauma¯ tua (elders) once avoided, caring for their whana¯ u with a strong te ao Ma¯ ori understanding, with training to provide the very best medical advice.
The inequities of the past will be no more.
My wero (challenge) for communities is to embrace this change and take advantage of the opportunities the health reform provides.
This will require true grit, resilience, and determination.
We have a responsibility to act now for us and our children after us.